Recent updates on life in the Philippines

Life in the Philippines can be complex and difficult like any other parts of the world and recently we can say we are going through one of those periods. Not because we are unhappy but simply a re-jigging of finances and things we are upto put a hole in the wallet and a delay on rebuilding the pocket.

The internet cafe is up and sort of in a middle of a stall due to the poor internet connection provided by Smart who lack any interest in customer service I suppose that comes from running pretty much a monopoly. Not only did we bin or Smart Bro Share it which aren’t worth the money but the next net café along from us did exactly the same on the same day. Am I bitter or annoyed? To be honest I just want a reliable service you seem to get a run around on the telephone comms industry here as nobody really cares if you get what you want or not or infact don’t even update on if it will be done or not. So that’s sort of burned a big hole until it starts rolling again which it no doubt will once someone decides to do a days work at Smart.

But above the cafe the first apartment is pretty much well underway and I’m pleased with the way its looking. The budget is pretty much on course and the problem is not can we let it but can we get the second one built asap. As currently we have two people wanting a long term rental. Things are starting to get a bit more organised but I can see an extra P250,000 being needed to get everything the way we want it. Although the whole P250,000 wont be needed in lump sum it will be needed in stages to get the next two projects finished. The first one being the Sari-Sari under the second apartment then the second apartment. So many people will tell you a Sari-Sari is a waste of time but its more about what your selling rather than who you are selling to. For a start most people don’t have freezers or refrigerators so there is an instant market for frozen produce. Add another factor of being able to buy live chickens from the main egg producers you have a second business opening up. That’s even before we start looking into the sausages and cured meats. We started selling ice-pops recently not the biggest thing in the world I know wont get rich overnight but we sell a pack a day which comes to P40 profit add that to everything else going on the venture is moving more from viable to lucrative. There are so many things you can do with limited space problem is we are just about out of it this year and will need to look for our next property lot to expand or buying into houses which has hit a stumbling block. For one April is looking after Zoei full-time at the moment so cant get a loan there and I have little to nothing declared in the Philippines so I cant gain finance either. The only viable way to do it is to pay cash which in the long run will be the better deal.

I can see the next three years being hard as we start to move forward as the foundations on the ideas are starting to take shape. From our other ventures we have a sustainable income. Getting the net café going will give Jovie a stable income and the two apartments and sari-sari will be the back bone of saving for the next property. If we can gain two houses in the P1m bracket each by December I will be more than happy. Currently its a hard amount of cash to find but I am hoping a few ideas I have will pay off to push us towards the goal needed to succeed.

Why do I push so hard with so many objectives? I looked at most things and you will find most people on forums will say “you cant make money in the Philippines” or “want to make a small fortune start with a large one”. In reality everything comes down to time management and its how we will get ahead of the game. Currently Aprils parents are busy full-time with one of our ventures and Jovie is busy with the net-cafe. But the net-cafe will eventually be setup with the Sari-Sari store so that one person can operate both of them and with the apartments upstairs one person is literally running four incomes. I will progress with things online and hopefully start developing some websites. I currently have one client who is waiting for one to be done and its something I can easily build on. Some of you may be thinking but every man and his dog is online making money! but That’s only looking to make P40,000 a month from the venture as we are already sustainable. On top of that the P40,000 is for development of properties we all work as a group towards a goal that supports everyone. Why do so many people fail in the Philippines? I think a lot of it is down to the fact that many would fail regardless of country while others have bad luck and finally others don’t use what they do have available at theyre disposal. Most family members struggle to find work in the Philippines so it just makes sense to generate ideas as getting a Filipino average salary can be achieved more easily if people have money or products to start with. We hit a hurdle in December – January which hit us financially hard. But we are still here and will no doubt recoup and move forward from it we may have received a bloody nose in one of the ventures but its already starting to recover and no doubt 2010 is going to be more prosperous.

I didnt forget about the aquaponics by the way its simply that Smart has taken up so much of my time recently on top of getting the net cafe finished that we will hopefully begin the fish production in March all going well.